July 07, 2009

Mike Rossner: A voice for change

The JCB is proud of the recent announcement by SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) that Mike Rossner has been honored as the latest SPARC Innovator. As Managing Editor of the JCB from 1997 to 2007 and Executive Director of the Rockefeller University Press (RUP)—publisher of the JCB, JEM, and JGP—since 2006, Mike has worked tirelessly to create policies that promote open access and data integrity.

“Mike Rossner is changing the nature of publishing and, along with it, the reality of who can access and read journals,” says Heather Joseph, executive director of SPARC. “We’re pleased to name him a SPARC Innovator.”

Below are excerpts from SPARC about Rossner's recognition, and you can also check out the full feature story:

Rossner led the RUP in championing free public access by implementing a policy to release the full contents of their journals after just a six-month delay. Last year, under his leadership, RUP took another step to promote the free distribution of their content by adopting a new copyright policy whereby authors retain copyright to their articles and third parties can reuse published content under a modified Creative Commons license.

He has been an outspoken advocate for positive change, writing compelling pieces on topics as wide-ranging as support for the NIH Public Access Policy, unfair pricing practices by mega-publishers, and the need for greater transparency in journal metrics. Rossner was one of the first publishers to announce a freeze on journal subscription prices in light of the economic downturn. Most recently, he joined nine other university presses in endorsing a statement of in support of open access.

Rossner’s track record is proof that traditional, subscription-based publishers can provide public access and remain in business.

Rossner’s innovations go beyond broadening access, extending toward ensuring the high quality of scientific information published in journals in the digital age. In 2002, Rossner developed a leading-edge program to screen digital images in manuscripts accepted for publication at RUP for possible manipulation—an area of growing concern for all electronic publications.

Ira Mellman, one of the JCB’s senior editors and vice president of research oncology at Genentech in South San Francisco, says Rossner is using publishing as a platform for progress and integrity in science. “Mike is a good fiscal manager, an innovator, and as deeply committed to science as any laboratory scientist; he is an excellent model for what I think a publisher should be in the 21st century,” he says.

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